Facebook Updates Messenger for Android

SMS took another hit today, as Android users will now be able to sign up for Facebook Messenger with only a name and phone number.

The update to the OTT service opens up direct messenging, photo sharing and more to users still holding out on diving into social networking, while also essentially performing the function of a text without the texting rates.

The new feature is being rolled out in India, Indonesia, Australia, Venezuela and South Africa with more countries to follow soon.

This new development, along with apps like FaceTime and Gchat, could lead to further declines in text messaging, which were reported for the first time in the third quarter of 2012.

A report from Chetan Sharma noted a decrease in both the volume of text messages and the total messaging revenue for the U.S. market while the U.S. mobile data market shot up 3 percent sequentially and 17 percent annually to reach $19.9 billion in the third quarter of 2012.